Bad Piggies – Angry Birds sequel released

Rovio has released Bad Piggies, the sequel to 500-plus million download-grabbing Angry Birds games.

The sequel to the modern gaming classic Angry Birds has been released for iOS and Android. It’s called Bad Piggies. iPhone users can get in on the action for 69p, iPad owners £1.99 and the cheapstake Android brigade can download an ad-supported version for free.

Rovio has sensibly altered the long-standing blueprint of the Angry Birds games for this sequel. Your aim in each level of Bad Piggies is to get one of the green pigs from one end of the level to another by building a contraption out boxes, wheels, umbrellas and other such detritus. Along the way you need to collect eggs – the theft of which was what got those Angry Birds so riled-up in the first place.

Rovio’s Petri Järvilehto explained the difference between the two franchises, saying “Where Angry Birds was all about destruction, Bad Piggies is all about the joy of construction. It’s not just about getting three stars – in this game, failing is almost as much fun as succeeding.”

Bad Piggies is available on PC and Mac as well as Android and iPhone, and a Windows Phone version is also in the works. As is the trend with modern mobile games, Bad piggies features in-app purchases that let you skip levels. There are currently 60 levels in the main quest, although you ban bet Rovio will add to that figure with updates over the coming months.

This is a game with a big shadow looming over it. Bad Piggies has already shot to the top of the App Store chart, but can it possibly match the success of Angry Birds? The success of the three Angry Birds games earned Rovio revenue of over $100 million in 2011.

Already tried Bad Piggies? Let us know what you think in the comments. Is it really an Angry Birds-beater?